29 May

Nothing bothers me more than seeing a witch, new or old, forget half of the deity coupling. What I’m referring here to in the honoring of the God or the Goddess, without reverence or acknowledgment of the other. A lot of people make this mistake when they first come into this path, and I’m taking a stand against it. Balance is part of life…and it should be part of your path.

Our religion, and indeed this entire world, is based on duality. Light and dark. Day and night. Left and right. Men and women. The earth speaks to duality, and so should your personal relationship with the earth in the form of your religion.

I may be ruffling a few feathers out there, but I’m tired of seeing the Goddess get all the limelight when clearly there should be a balance between both. The God and the Goddess deserve equal attention. They are halves of the same whole. It’s that simple.

When I started thinking about this topic, I wondered where this one-sided focus came from. It happens mostly with Goddess worship. There are even some sects of Wicca that are entirely devoted to the Goddess and ignore the God all together. To me, this never made any sense at all, but I can understand where it comes from.

Most of the worlds major religions focus on the God figure. All representations of female divinity are suppressed and ignored entirely. Strong female figures are all but ignored in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. When people discover the pagan path, they are drawn immediately to the idea that divinity is more than just some white bearded guy sitting on a throne up in heaven. Paganism allows for an exploration of figureheads from many cultures, both male and female. The divine manifests itself in many different ways.

Sometimes when someone comes into paganism, the idea of having a feminine deity is so freeing and so inviting that they worship the Goddess to the detriment of the God. It’s understandable. The divine feminine is so undervalued in other religions, Goddess worship feels very comforting at first. In an attempt to dissociate from your old religion and embrace your new one, you might reject a God figure entirely. God is associated with the God of other religions â€“ the controlling God, the punishing God, the God who demands that he must be the only God. It’s only natural that some people want to devote their entire spiritual practice to the Goddess alone.

Focusing on the Goddess along isn’t only wrong, it’s unwise as well. Think about your spiritual life like a boat that needs to get to shore. If you have only one oar, you’re going to go in circles. You can only make progress when you use both oars â€“ the God and the Goddess.

This isn’t to say that there aren’t some times in your practice when you’ll focus on one specific aspect of the God and Goddess. There are even times you may focus on one particular deity from a pantheon. But you must always honor the other aspect of the diety when you do. Even if it’s just in the form of having a candle lit during your ritual for the God, or an item on your altar representing the Goddess.

Balancing the God and Goddess is easy when you take the time to represent them each on your altar and in your ritual. Any two pairs of items can serve as a reminder of the duality of nature. Some people like to use candles to represent the deities. A gold candle for the God and a silver candle for the Goddess is traditional, but you can use anything you like to represent the deities.

Make sure to choose something that speaks to you on a deep level. If candles aren’t working for you, a representation of the God and Goddess in picture form is a good option. There are many images you can find online, or in books, that can be used to represent the God and Goddess on your altar and in your life.

Even if your particular ritual calls for focus on the God or the Goddess, make sure to acknowledge the other form of deity in your workings. Place a representation of them on your altar. Call to him or her at the start of your ritual and invite them into your space. Although they might not be a central part of that particular ritual, they still need â€œringside seatsâ€ so to speak.

The point is, don’t block out one aspect of the deity unnecessarily. If you have to identify with one more than another, so be it. But make sure that your practice acknowledges and respects the fact that deity comes in two flavors.

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne, Your Warm And Caring “Resident Witch In Charge”

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23 May

As much as I would love for the God and Goddess to grant me days of everlasting peace, every once in a while I encounter a period of overwhelming stress. I’m sure you experience the same. Whether it’s conflict in personal relationships, legal matters, money troubles or health issues, stress effects us all. The impact of stress can be disastrous to your emotions and even your spiritual life. I hope that this doesn’t describe your life right now, but if it does, there are magickal solutions to your problems.

I must emphasize that the solutions to stress often lie within instead of without. For example, a lot of new pagans automatically assume that a binding spell or other charm that effects the other person should be the first order of business if they are having trouble with someone. I urge them to first look within and try to find something within themselves that they can change and effect through meditation or magick. It is always better to find an internal solution, rather than risk harming someone else or violating the Rede.

With this in mind, the rituals in this article are geared toward personal transformation, rather than effecting the outer world. You’ll find that the inner changes you experience will have a powerful impact upon the world that you experience. Don’t strike out before you look within.

The first spell to use during times of stress isn’t really a spell per se, but an activity. Meditation is a process that many people over many different religious backgrounds use, and pagans do as well. In fact, the grounding and centering exercises that you do at the beginning of each ritual is a form of meditation. You don’t have to do a full ritual in order to ground and center. Grounding and centering when you feel stressed or completely overwhelmed is a terrific way to fill yourself with positive energy so that you can tackle the problem at hand guided by divine energy.

While you are sitting in stillness, visualize yourself being filled with golden light and overcoming the obstacles that lay in your path, whatever they may be. Instead of focusing on blasting through the stress, picture the golden light enveloping it and dissolving away. The emphasis isn’t on forcefully pushing it out of your life. You should picture it being eliminated as easily as sugar dissolves into water.

As you visualize your problems dissolving away, feel yourself continuing to be filled with the golden light. If you are feeling stressed in the future, after you complete the meditation, just remember that you filled yourself with light and that your problems are gone.

This simple meditation exercise may be all you need to help yourself feel calm and content. But sometimes stress comes from external forces that can be hard to deal with. As I already mentioned, it’s better to work on yourself than harm or limit others. If you are feeling threatened it’s best to focus on strengthening and protecting yourself.

This first spell can help you gain the strength that you need to overcome stressful or difficult situations.

You need to gather orange oil (or a commerically made Sun oil), a red candle and a white candle. Before the ritual begins, dress the candles with the oil. If you desire, you can carve power symbols into the candles. Cast your circle, light your white candle first and then your red candle and then say the following:

Strength Spell

North, East, South, West
Earth, Air, Fire, Water
Give Me Strength

The gift of power to move the mountains
The gift of strength to move the wind
The gift of determination from the bright burning fire within me
The gift of energy from the rushing river.

I thank the God and the Goddess for these incredible gifts.
I thank you for the power that you have given me
I thank you for the strength and determination
And finally I thank you for the energy that you filled me with
So mote it be!

This spell will make you feel strong and empowered. You’ll be able to overcome the difficulty that you are facing. The next spell should be used just in case someone is trying to cause you harm. It focuses on protection, and not the binding of someone else.

Protection Spell

This protection spell only requires a red candle and an herb for protection. You can use vervain, yarrow or anything else you feel comfortable with. Cast your circle as you normally would and then light your candle. Concentrate on its energetic flame for a moment and then say the following:

For protection, I now pray,
Let all evil turn away.
Protect me night,
Protect me day,
And keep misfortune well at bay.

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne

Your Warm And Caring “Resident Witch In Charge”

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16 May

The monthly full moons or Esbats are the closest that we Pagans have to the Sunday church services of the Christians. The 13 full moons of the year are honored by rituals that are tuned to the specific qualities of the full moon. While the Sabbats celebrate the path of the Sun throughout the year, the Esbats are all about the Moon and the Goddess. We observe her monthly passage from maiden, to mother, to crone and back again. We offer her attention during her full Mother phase and when she is at her greatest power.

The focus of Esbats rituals should be on reverence and respect. It is not a time for spells dealing with things that we want or that we need. We thank the Goddess for all that she has given us and stand in reverence to her awesome power.

The following is an Esbat ritual that you can adapt and altar to your needs. My own Esbat ritual developed from this and it has served me well for many years.

You will need:

Two white candles
A bell
Wine or lunar liquid
Your chalice (or cup)
Spell material if you are doing something afterwards
Cast your circle.
Stand before the altar facing North and say:
This is the time of the full moon, a time of great power for positive manifestation,
a time of increasing and gaining.
The tide of Moon-power is strong.
I am of the Goddess.
I stand before You at Your altar, in love and adoration.
Be with me Goddess.
Let me feel your presence here tonight.

Go to the east with the bell.

Ring it once and say:

Hail Selene. Help me feel the Lady’s power and presence within my mind.

Go to the South.

Ring the bell once and say:

Hail Cerridwen.

Help me feel the Lady’s power and presence within my spirit.

Go to the West.

Ring the bell once and say:

Hail Athene. Help me feel the Lady’s power and presence within my emotions.

Go back to the North. Ring the bell once and say:

Hail Aphrodite.
Help me feel the Lady’s power and presence in my body.

You will probably have an amazing wave of feelings come over you. Let them sink into your body and soul. When you are ready, return the bell to the altar, turn to the North, and raise your arms high above your head.

Say:

Hail Goddess! Moon Mother, Lady of Light, Mistress of Magick and Animals. You are the white light of the Moon upon the Earth, the brilliant rays of sun upon life.

You are the beginning and ending, the One who creates and takes away. Within You, I see myself and all woman.

In this time, You come to me and fill me with your presence.

Communicate with Her now. Tell Her your problems, wishes and anything you wish to tell her.

When you are finished say:

All honor and love to the wonderful Goddess, f
or She is the power behind all powers,
the Goddess behind all gods,
the Eternal Life behind death.
I see Her loving face within the moon and rejoice.
All Hail Queen of the heavens and the earth, the eternal on of Wisdom!
Raise the chalice to toast her and say:
To Diana and all the Goddesses!

Now is the time for divination, meditation, and spellwork of any kind.

Close the circle when done.

Remember to add your own personal flair to the ritual and make it your own.

Since you will be using the Esbat ritual on a monthly basis, try to memorize it (or at least parts of it). As you use it more and more, I’m sure you’ll grow comfortable with the flow of this ritual and eventually know it like the back of your hand.

I send you blessings as you worship the Goddess in her Glory!

Brightest Blessings,

Rose Ariadne, Your Warm And Caring “Resident Witch In Charge”

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09 May

We have come to the end of our Wheel of the Year with the Witches’ New Year’samhain.
Halloween has overtaken October 31t, but it is we Pagans that made the day special to begin with.

Samhain means “End of Summer”. Its historical origin is The Feast of the Dead in Celtic lands. Samhain night is the best night of the year for contacting those who have passed on before us. It is said that the veil between the worlds is very thin during this time.

Darkness increases and the Goddess reigns as the Crone, part of the three-in-one that also includes the Maiden and Mother. The God has passed to the other side and becomes the seed of his own rebirth at Yule. Many Pagans prepare a Feast for the Dead on Samhain night, where they leave offerings of food and drink for the spirits. The popular children’s custom of trick-or-treat stems from an Old English practice in which children went door to door begging “soul cakes” to feed the wandering spirits.

Divination is heightened during this night as well. Even those new to tarot, runes or other divinations will have clear understanding of the messages of the future during this night. Plan a special reading for your circle or yourself.
It is also an appropriate night to make a besome, or ritual broom. Here are some instructions to guide you:

You will need a four-foot dowel one inch in diameter, a ball of twine, scissors, and straw or other long strands of pliable herbs. Take the straw, or another herb you have chosen for the bristles, and allow them to soak overnight in warm, lightly salted water. The water softens the straws to make them pliable, and the salt soaks out former energies. When you are ready to make your Besom, remove the straws from the water and allow them to dry a bit, but not so much that they lose the suppleness you will need to turn them into your Besom.

Find a work area where you can lay out the length of your dowel, and begin lining the straws alongside the dowel. Starting about three inches from the bottom, lay the straws, moving backward, along the length of the dowel. Begin binding these to the dowel with the twine. You will need to tie them very securely. You can add as many layers of straw as you wish, depending on how full you would like your Besom to be. When the straw is secured, bend the top straws down over the twine ties. When they are all gently pulled over, tie off the straws again a few inches below the original tie. Leave the Besom overnight to allow the straw to dry.

The dowel part of the Besom can be stained, painted, or decorated with Pagan symbols, your Craft name, or any other embellishments you choose. Dedicate your finished Besom in your Circle as you would any other ritual tool. Although Samhain is a time of celebration for all Witches, I find it better to socialize earlier in the evening and then hold a private ceremony at night. Much of Samhain is very personal, and a solitary or small circle with your loved ones allows you to explore divination, make plans for the coming year and focus on remembering your loved ones who have passed. The Samhain season is one of remembrance, both of the dead and of your own personal goals and missteps throughout the past year. I’ve always seen it as a time for evaluation and readjustment in my life. I re-center myself, make new goals and thank the God and Goddess for another wonderful year.

Love And Light,

Rose Ariadne, Your Warm And Caring “Resident Witch In Charge”

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02 May

Mabon season always puts me in the mood for the coming holiday season. Plus, I am a cold weather person and this holiday gets me excited for pulling out my winter clothes and bundling up for some good rain and snow. Mabon is the second of our harvest festivals and is celebrated between September 20 and 23rd. It changes from year to year depending on the date of the Equinox. During Autumn, we begin to see the waning of the Sun more obviously now as the days continue to grow shorter until the Wheel of the Year spins around again to Yule.

At the Autumn Equinox, the days and nights are equal. It is a time of balance, but light gives way to increased darkness. It is the second harvest, and the Goddess mourns her fallen consort, but the emphasis is on the message of rebirth that can be found in the harvest seeds. The Autumn Equinox is a wonderful time to stop and relax and be happy. While we may not have toiled the fields from sunrise to sunset every day since Lammas – as our ancestors did – most of us do work hard at what we do. At this time of year, we should stop and survey the harvest each of us has brought in over the season. For us, like our ancestors, this becomes a time of giving thanks for the success of what we have worked at.

For your Mabon ritual, focus on the fading God and the continuing harvest of the Earth’s bounty. The following ritual is the basis for our current coven ritual.

Decorate the altar with acorns, oak sprigs, pine and cypress cones, ears of corn, wheat stalks and other fruits and nuts. Also place a small rustic basket filled with dried leaves of various colors and kinds on the altar.

Arrange the altar, light the candles and censer, and cast your circle. Invite the elements and your Deities.

Stand before the altar, holding aloft the basket of leaves, and slowly scatter them so that they cascade to the ground within the circle. Say such words as these:

Leaves fall,
the days grow cold.
The Goddess pulls Her mantle of the Earth around Her as You,
O Great Sun God,
sail toward the West to the lands of
Eternal Enchantment.,
wrapped in the coolness of night.
Fruits ripen,
seeds drop,
the hours of day and night are balanced.
Chill winds blow in from the North wailing laments.
In this seeming extinction of nature’s power,
O Blessed Goddess,
I know that life continues.
For spring is impossible without the second harvest,
as surely as life is impossible without death.
Blessings upon You,
O Fallen God,
as You journey into the lands of winter
and into the Goddess’ loving arms.

Place the basket down and say:

O Gracious Goddess of all fertility,
I have sown and reaped the fruits of my actions, good and bane.
Grant me the courage to plant seeds of joy and love in the coming year,
banishing misery and hate.
Teach me the secrets of wise existence upon this planet,
O Luminous One of the Night!

Works of magick, if necessary, may follow.
Close the circle and enjoy the bounty of the season.

Brightest Blessing,

Rose Ariadne, Your Warm And Caring “Resident Witch In Charge”

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